Meeting in Sand
by Vampire Ifurita
Summary: Naruto's in Sand and decides to call on Gaara. Whoever said Naruto was a bad influence on Gaara? GaaNaru


_Well... try two at GaaNaru. (is set on getting one right some day...) Yay fanfiction!_

_Gaara: (glare)_

_If: What?_

_Gaara: I don't think I agree with your "yay fanfiction!"_

_If: (grin) You wouldn't. Anyway, be a dear and do the disclaimer._

_Gaara: (glare) No._

_If: Fine. Naruto?_

_Naruto: (appears out of no where) If doesn't own Naruto, for which we're thankful._

_If: HEY! (Gaara and Naruto snicker)_

Anyway... this might be a bit OOC... I tried to keep it in character... really! Oh! And don't flame me or something. Fire only feeds me.

* * *

Meeting in Sand

Kankuro twitched. Mere five or six years ago his brother had been a merciless and heartless killer. He had had no real feelings, and no one had even really cared about him, even his own siblings. Who would've thought he would have become what he was at this very moment?

Years ago Gaara had had no one, not a single person. His reason for living was to extinguish the flames of other's lives. The stronger they were the stronger he proved his worth in living by killing them. He had killed anyone who had so much as looked at him wrong. Then that day had happened: that day when he happened to fight one Uzumaki Naruto.

That day changed his brother forever. Kankuro himself wasn't there at that fight, but he knew that neither had really won, but that the Uzumaki had forever made a deep impression on his brother, even though he didn't think of him as his brother at the time. The most amazing things had started to happen after that fight. Gaara apologized. _Apologized_! Gaara! It was unheard of. It had stunned Kankuro to no end. But that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg of the changes Gaara had gone through over the three years between that fight and their next real meeting.

Gaara had told his siblings about Naruto, and what he thought about said Uzumaki. It was clear to Kankuro just how much his brother respected and admired the Uzumaki. It was as if that boy had imparted upon Gaara such great wisdom that his whole life was flipped around. Gaara grew to show some sort of emotion (Kankuro could see it, but it seemed that most other people couldn't strangely enough, but now that he thought about it, the emotions Gaara had gained he controlled quite well and didn't really show, unless you knew him really well… but that was aside from the point). He cared about other people. He became the Kazekage, and a wise and just ruler at that. He protected his village with his life.

And protected it with his life he had that fateful day two or three years ago. That day was forever burned into his memory. Even if he hadn't cared that much about his brother before, he loved him as much as any brother could when the time came and Gaara was defeated. They weren't even after the village he had strove to protect, the Akatsuki were only after the demon that resided in his brother. Kankuro remembered waking up in a bed and seeing the person his brother so admired and looked up to: Naruto Uzumaki. He asked for him to save his brother, to save Gaara, and he had sworn that he would. There was a light in his eyes at that time, which Kankuro was amazed by. There was a fierce passion in his words and Kankuro knew that he would save his brother.

Though crushed to know that his brother had died, he knew that Naruto had tried his hardest to bring him back. And when he sacrificed part of his own life to save his brother along with Chiyo-sama, he knew that his trust had been well placed.

Kankuro twitched again as he watched his brother flip the page of the report he was reading. In spite of how much he seemed to admire and care for the Uzumaki, he was sitting here doing paperwork… Kankuro felt the twitch get more violent. Granted the Uzumaki was here on a mission with the newly (_ok so two years wasn't so new, but whatever_, thought Kankuro) recovered Sasuke and that pink haired girl Sakura, but he had bumped into Gaara earlier and somehow convinced him to meet him for dinner at five (which, Kankuro noted, was five minutes ago) and yet Gaara sat here doing paperwork. Kankuro couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up suddenly, banging his hands on the table he was sitting behind. Gaara looked up, quirking an invisible eyebrow at his brother.

"Why are you still here?" Kankuro practically growled at the Kazekage. Gaara turned back to his work.

"Because this is where I work," Gaara replied nonchalantly. Kankuro twitched again.

"You know what I mean," Kankuro replied, moving to stand in front of his brother's desk. "He's been waiting for you for five minutes, why are you here?"

Gaara looked up from his work to stare impassively at Kankuro. "I'm sure he's entirely forgotten that he asked me, besides… he has that Uchiha and that pink haired girl to keep him company."

Kankuro felt his hand twitch, he wanted so badly to whap his brother upside the head, but knew that the sand would only block him if he tried.

"You don't get it, do you?" he asked suddenly. Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow in response. "That look on his face when you said 'no' the first time he asked was so sad, and yet when you finally gave in his whole face brightened and he practically _glowed_. He _wanted_ you to go to dinner with him. He_ wanted_ to spend time with you."

Gaara's face was blank as Kankuro stopped his little tirade. Kankuro backed up as Gaara stood up from his chair and moved around the desk. Kankuro was slightly surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder (he had shut his eyes, not wanting to know what his brother was going to do to him).

"Thank you," Gaara said before disappearing in a whirl of sand.

* * *

Gaara had the decency to feel slightly guilty when he saw the snoring blonde sitting outside the restaurant they had agreed to meet at. He looked at his watch, he was only fifteen minutes late… Gaara hesitantly reached out and shook the blonde's shoulder. Naruto only slumped to his side in response, his snoring growing louder. Gaara twitched and shook Naruto harder. Naruto flailed about and shouted, trying to dislodge the hands on his shoulders. His eyes snapped open. 

"Gaara!" he shouted and launched himself at the unsuspecting and startled redhead, they both fell over, Naruto on top of Gaara. Gaara grunted as his back hit the ground and Naruto "Oof"-ed as he landed on Gaara. He chuckled nervously as Gaara stared at him blankly.

"Eh he he he… sorry about that Gaara, I was just so happy you came," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck with one hand, supporting some of his weight on the other. Gaara just looked at him.

"I'm only fifteen minutes late Uzumaki," Gaara said. Naruto flushed, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh," he said. "I must have been more tired that I had originally thought."

Gaara rolled his eyes at the blonde hovering above him. Naruto grinned widely and stood up; offer a hand to Gaara to help him off the ground. Gaara took the hand and together they hauled him to his feet.

"Let's get something to eat," Naruto said enthusiastically. "I'm starving here."

Gaara quirked an eyebrow at his companion, but Naruto only grinned his fox grin at him and pulled him into the restaurant. They sat in a booth across from each other, the smile never coming off Naruto's face, and Gaara noticed that it reached his blue eyes and quirked the tiniest of smiles himself, causing Naruto's grin to become even bigger, if that were possible.

They talked about everything, and yet nothing at the same time, well… more or less Naruto talked and Gaara added in a few syllables every once and a while. They ate their dinner, and Gaara noticed that at some point in time the Uchiha and that girl Sakura had come in during their meal and that the Uchiha was glaring at him. Gaara wondered why as he turned his attention back to the hyper-active blonde, still feeling the glare on him.

Eventually Naruto grew restless of sitting in one place, even if there was food there. He suggested they leave and Gaara could only nod as Konoha's number one hyper-active ninja pulled him out of the restaurant. Gaara could feel the heated glare still following them even as they left.

After a while of randomly turning at corners, Gaara was pretty certain that Naruto had no idea where he was going. He sighed and stopped in his tracks, effectively stopping the blonde since Naruto was currently dragging Gaara around by his hand (how Gaara hadn't noticed was beyond him).

"Do you even know where you're going?" Gaara asked the clueless blonde. Naruto blushed and looked away. Gaara sighed. "Do you have any idea where you want to go?"

Naruto just shrugged, suddenly quiet. "Somewhere where we can just talk."

Gaara felt his mouth twitch into a tiny smile, thus perking up the blonde once again.

"Could we go back to your place?" Naruto asked. Gaara involuntarily took a step back (which he has never done) at the look in Naruto's now starry eyes. Gaara raised an eyebrow as Naruto batted his eyelashes. Gaara sighed.

"Fine," he said. Naruto jumped around a bit, fox grin adorning his face. Gaara sighed; he was such a pushover when it concerned the blonde.

Naruto looked at him expectantly. Gaara quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

"Aren't you going to take us there? I have no idea where I am," Naruto said. Gaara twitched, but then sighed. He pulled Naruto close to him, by the hand that was still attached to his own and in a swirl of sand they were gone.

* * *

Naruto plopped down onto Gaara's bed, finding it practically the only place other than the floor to sit on. Gaara tried not to think of all the different dirty things that were trying to pop up in his head from such a simple action taken by such an oblivious blonde. He sat next to said blonde and was startled when he laid his head on his shoulder. Gaara looked at Naruto, a bit confused by this show of affection, but Naruto only smiled at him and nuzzled into his shoulder. Gaara sighed and ran a hand through the blonde's hair. 

"Can I stay here while we're in town?" Naruto barely asked and Gaara almost swore he didn't hear it. It was only when he turned his head that he knew that he had, the hopeful look in Naruto's eyes begged him to say that he could. Gaara sighed and hung his head in defeat; there was no winning against that puppy-dog look.

"I don't know why you'd want to stay here, but I don't mind," he told Naruto. Naruto, in his joy, glomped onto the Kazekage again, knocking him back to lie flat on his back.

"Yay! Thanks Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed. Gaara blinked as Naruto squeezed him tightly.

"Why do you want to stay here anyway?" Gaara asked when Naruto had calmed down a bit. Naruto blinked for a while before turning his face away from Gaara, his head still resting on Gaara's shoulder.

"I just need to get away from Sasuke," Naruto mumbled. Gaara quirked an eyebrow.

"You need to get away from the Uchiha? Why?" Gaara asked, curious despite himself. Naruto gave him a sad smile.

"I don't know things have been more tense than usual between us… I mean, they've been really tense since I dragged his ass back from Orochimaru's lair, but lately it's been worse than ever and I can't stand it," Naruto confessed. Gaara, having no idea what to do or say, ran his hand through Naruto's hair again. "Hell, I don't even know why it's so unbearably tense lately. It's like he has an especially large stick stuffed up his ass."

Gaara chuckled at the mental image he received from that particular comment and even Naruto cracked a grin, before breaking out in hysterical laughter.

"I can just see that!" he exclaimed between boughts of laughter and gasps for air. "This giant stick the size of a tree trunk, stuffed up his ass, and he'd have no problem walking around like it was nothing, like it wasn't even there!"

Gaara felt his mouth twitch, trying to let go of all the inhibitions he normally held and smile. Naruto kept laughing.

"Oh man did I need that," he said after he calmed down a bit. He turned his head to once again face Gaara, a smile that reached his eyes on his face. "Thanks Gaara."

"I don't know what you're thanking me for," Gaara replied, confused by the sudden thanks. "I just sat here."

Naruto smiled. "I know, but I need someone to just listen and not judge or anything. Besides, that look on your face when I mentioned a stick up Sasuke's ass was priceless."

Gaara shook his head. "You're a complicated person Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto grinned and poked Gaara. "So're you Gaara, so're you."

"I'm not complicated," Gaara protested. Naruto laughed and Gaara couldn't help but smile.

"Sure you're not Gaara, sure you're not…" and with that Naruto fell asleep, still half-lying on Gaara.

Gaara sighed, he marveled at the blonde's ability to fall asleep anywhere. He carefully disentangled himself from the now snoring blonde and somehow managed to get the blonde in between the sheets. Gaara shook his head and started to head to the door of his small one room apartment.

"G'ra?" Gaara turned around to see a half-asleep Naruto looking at him with pleading eyes. Gaara nodded and went back to the bed, sitting beside Naruto. Naruto turned to face him and put his head in Gaara's lap.

"Thanks," Naruto barely mumbled. Gaara nodded and absently started to stroke Naruto's head.

* * *

Gaara twitched. He cracked open an eye only to find a stray beam of sunlight shine straight into it. He swore and moved his head. He looked down to find his temporary flat-mate gone. He rolled his shoulders, hearing them crack, before stretching them over his head. He stood and leaned back, hands on hips, and heard his back crack. He shook his head; his body was popping joints all over the place today. He wandered the short distance between his bed and kitchenette, only to bump into an unexpected obstacle. He cracked open his eyes, which he had been rubbing between bed and fridge, to find bright blue eyes and sun kissed hair before him. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Naruto laughed. 

"Sit down uh… somewhere," Naruto said, face scrunching up remembering that there really wasn't any place to sit other than the bed and the floor. Gaara plopped down on the floor near the wall and leant up against it. Naruto smiled again before returning his attention to whatever it was that he had been doing. It was then that Gaara noticed the smell of food cooking. He looked at the blonde, finding him cooking up something or other on his stove. Gaara was slightly stunned; he hadn't thought the blonde could cook. Naruto, as if sensing his disbelief turned around long enough to give him a thumbs up. Gaara began to worry about his stomach.

Some five minutes later a cup of ramen was placed in front of Gaara. Gaara stared disbelieving for a moment before he deadpanned at the blonde happily munching on his own ramen.

"Mmph?" Naruto question, which clearly meant "what?"

"It took you that long to make ramen?" Gaara asked. Naruto shook his head fervently in the negative.

"It took that long for me to figure out if you had any ramen and then boil the water before adding it to the ramen," Naruto said. Gaara just looked at the blonde, all traces of emotion wiped from his face. Naruto felt a little nervous before Gaara just shook his head and began to eat. Naruto smiled happily and went back to his first love: ramen.

If Gaara thought Kankuro wouldn't notice him being late, he was seriously mistaken. He twitched as said brother grinned lecherously at him and gave him one of those "I-know-what-you-did-last-night-you-dirty-man-you" looks. Gaara just glared at him.

"And why are you so late?" Kankuro immediately asked once he cornered Gaara in his office. Gaara twitched.

"I lost track of time," Gaara replied. "Besides, I'm only twenty minutes late."

"And how, pray tell, did you lose track of time?" Kankuro asked, completely ignoring Gaara's second statement. Gaara sighed.

"I was eating breakfast with Naruto," he said and then brought a hand to his face as his brother gave him a perverted smirk.

"Really? And why was Naruto at your apartment?" Kankuro asked, perverted grin never leaving his face, his tone of voice hinting at something naughty. Gaara blushed slightly and his brother laughed.

"He just spent the night! That's all!" Gaara cried out at his brother's laughter. Kankuro only laughed harder.

"Sure, spent the night in your bed," Kankuro implied, smirking at his brother's pink expression.

"Where else was he supposed to sleep? There's nowhere else to sleep!" Gaara exclaimed. Kankuro nodded.

"Of course, of course. And I'm sure you just happened to be in the same bed, right?" Kankuro leered. Gaara's face grew redder.

"Stop implying things!" he shouted. Kankuro laughed. This was too funny in his opinion. He had never seen his brother so out of character before, Kankuro just figured that was because no one had ever dared place a sexual innuendo on his actions before. Gaara ran a frustrated hand through his hair when something came crashing through his office window. Kankuro was immediately ready to defend himself and Gaara's sand started swirling around him. A second and third something came through the window, revealing Naruto, Sasuke and the fugitive they were hunting. The fugitive, seeing the Kazekage immediately went after him. Naruto laughed, Sasuke scoffed and Kankuro turned away for fear that Gaara really might hurt him for laughing so much. Gaara's eye twitched violently before he enclosed the foolish fugitive in sand.

"Does he need to be alive?" Gaara asked Sasuke, since Naruto was still snickering. Sasuke raised an eyebrow then shrugged.

"Hokage-sama didn't say he had to be alive," he said simply.

"Good," Gaara said. His face was cold and unfeeling as he crushed his captive in his desert coffin. He let a sadistic smile cross his face. "I needed that."

Sasuke looked at him like he was nuts as Kankuro tried to sneak out of the room. Naruto just looked confused. Gaara chucked something off his desk at Kankuro, who dodged and darted from the room. Gaara sighed and sat back behind his now blood spattered desk.

"Frustrated much?" Naruto asked, smiling at Gaara. Gaara nodded his head. Naruto smiled sympathetically and moved to stand behind Gaara. Gaara gave him a quizzical look, but Naruto just smiled and told him to relax. Gaara instinctively tensed when he felt hands on his shoulders, but relaxed as Naruto started to massage him. Gaara was instantly feeling better; he had never had a massage before everyone had been too afraid to touch him. Naruto quirked an eyebrow as he heard a soft purr come from Gaara, he snickered quietly. Sasuke glared at them both before picking up the corpse and leaving. Naruto started working his hands down Gaara's back, relieving as much tension as he could. The purr got louder as he did and he couldn't help but grin at the Kazekage.

Ten minutes later Naruto was surprised to find Gaara nearly asleep half lying on his desk. He smirked and wondered when his massages had gotten that good. He found a spare chair and pulled it up next to Gaara's laying his head on the desk and looking into Gaara's unfocused eyes. Gaara blinked a few times before sitting up.

"Feel better?" Naruto asked, still resting his head on Gaara's desk. Gaara smiled, and Naruto was amazed at how it lit up the Kazekage's face, making it even more beautiful.

"Much thanks," Gaara said. Naruto grinned widely.

"It was the least I could do since you're letting me stay at your place," Naruto said, nodding his head emphatically. Gaara quirked an eyebrow.

"You're still staying at my place? Isn't your mission over?" Gaara asked, slightly confused. Naruto smiled mischievously and Gaara instantly knew he was planning something.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't stay and visit an old friend," Naruto said. "Tsunade-baasan can deal with me missing for a while."

Gaara shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"So come on," Naruto stood and tugged at Gaara's sleeve. "Let's go somewhere, do something, anything!"

Gaara looked at Naruto like he had a second head.

"I have work…" he was cut off by Naruto.

"And so do I, but you don't see me doing it right now," Naruto grinned. "Besides, if you don't leave I'll drag you away from your precious paper work."

Gaara just looked at Naruto. Lo and behold though, the door opened and Gaara grinned evilly at his brother.

"Kankuro… you're in charge," he said before he and Naruto disappeared in a whirl of sand.

"Damnit," Kankuro grumbled.

* * *

As the sand fell away, Naruto found himself in a field of sand. He smirked at Gaara. 

"Care to spar?" he asked. Gaara raised an eyebrow.

"Do you honestly think you could beat me in all this sand?" Gaara asked nearly incredulously. Naruto just smirked and Gaara knew his answer. He sighed. "I am not going to be liable if you don't return in one piece."

Naruto laughed. "I'm invincible!"

Gaara stared at him. Slowly Naruto's smile was replaced by a confused look.

"What?" he asked. Gaara just shook his head and sighed. "What!"

Gaara just looked away. Naruto pouted and moved over to the Kazekage and poked him. Gaara gave him a look and then tackled him. Naruto, being caught entirely off guard, found himself pinned beneath Gaara, who was grinning rather creepily down at him.

"I win," Gaara said simply. Naruto's mouth fell open before he started protesting and struggling.

"That's not fair!" Naruto shouted.

"Too bad," Gaara replied. "Life's not fair, get over it."

Naruto gave Gaara a look. Gaara just shrugged.

"I always wanted to say that," he said simply. Naruto just deadpanned at him.

"What? People have said that to me before, so I wanted to know what it was like to say it," Gaara explained. Naruto shook his head.

"You're weird," he said. Gaara glared.

"If I'm weird, you're a circus freak," Gaara retorted. Naruto gapped at him. Gaara was actually having an inane argument? Gaara had a sense of humor? What was going on?

"Who are you and what have you done with my homicidal, slightly mentally imbalanced friend?" Naruto asked. Gaara rolled his eyes and flicked Naruto's forehead with his index finger, inadvertently giving Naruto the opening he was looking for. Naruto grinned and flipped them around, pinning Gaara to the sand.

"Ha ha!" he shouted in triumph. Gaara just shook his head.

"You're such a loser," Gaara told him. Naruto pouted and Gaara couldn't help but melt under the look. He was so gullible when it came to the blonde.

Naruto smirked triumphantly. "I beat the great Kazekage Gaara!"

Gaara shook his head, "You know, it's not that hard."

Naruto stared at him in shock, "What the hell? It's hard to beat you when we're actually fighting. I don't think either of us has lost or won in all the times we've sparred."

"Just goes to show you," Gaara said. Naruto hit him on the shoulder.

"You jerk," he said. Gaara smirked. "That's still freaky."

Gaara sighed. Naruto turned his head to the side with a quizzical look.

"Everyone says my smile's creepy, or freaky," Gaara admitted. Naruto shrugged.

"And people think my smile's stupid. Nothing to do about it," Naruto nodded while saying that. Gaara quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're smile's not stupid…" Gaara murmured. Naruto smiled hugely.

"Yay!" He shouted and hugged Gaara, forgetting who he was hugging and forgetting that he had been "pinning" said person. Gaara fought with himself for a while and finally just decided to pat Naruto on the back.

* * *

It was late when they finally made it back to Gaara's apartment. Eventually they had actually sparred, which ended in mass destruction, plenty blood being shed and Gaara winning the best two out of three. Naruto made a point of grumbling about it the whole way back to the apartment, which they were walking to since both had used any and all traces of their chakra. Gaara was dragging his feet through the streets of Sunagakure with the babbling blonde behind him. Every once in a while he would look up from the ground that he was staring at to look up at the buildings and get his bearings, but mostly he focused on blocking out Naruto. Naruto, for his part, kept trying to get Gaara to join in his one sided conversation. 

Finally reaching his apartment, Gaara climbed up a few flights of stairs, bumbled down a hallway, opened the door and barely made it to his bed before he let himself fall. He felt Naruto collapse beside him on the bed, but he didn't turn his head b/c that would take too much energy.

"Hey Gaara…" Naruto said, poking Gaara in the side.

"Eh," Gaara replied intelligently.

"We should take a shower," Naruto said. "We stink."

"Don't care…" Gaara said. "Too tired."

Naruto poked him again. Gaara turned his head to glare at him. Naruto's eyes went wide.

"I guess you're right…" he acquiesced. Gaara's mouth twitched, but he couldn't even find the energy to smirk.

Naruto scooted over to his friend and pulled him up the bed to rest his head on a pillow. He then proceeded to lie next to his friend.

"Gaara?" came the question from the loudmouth blonde.

"Mmm…" Gaara replied, turning onto his side facing Naruto and snuggling into the pillow.

"What do think it's like to like someone more than a friend?"

Gaara's eyes flew open and he looked at Naruto as if he had lost his mind… which he very might have done.

"Where the hell did that question come from, and why would you think I know the answer?" Gaara burst out, stunned.

Naruto winced. "I don't know… I was just curious."

Gaara sighed and gave Naruto's head a pat. "It's just weird hearing a question like that. You know I don't really have experience or exposure to many emotions, especially… love-y things."

Naruto nodded. "I know, but I figured that since that is so that you'd know exactly what it would be if you felt it."

Gaara laughed. "If anything I'd be more confused."

Naruto sighed sadly. "I don't know… it's just that… I feel different around this friend. It's different than everyone else and it's like they're somehow more important…"

Gaara shrugged. "I'd say you were very cliché-ly in love."

Naruto gave Gaara the strangest look he'd seen that day.

"What?" he asked. Naruto just deadpanned. Gaara grumbled and tried to get some sleep.

"Cliché eh?" Naruto asked. Gaara cracked an eye open. "That's ridiculous. It's not like I feel butterflies in my stomach when they're around… ok maybe I do, but that's different! And it's not like I worship the ground they walk upon… though I do admire him a lot… but that's different! I don't have love-y romance-y daydreams about him…. Maybe once, but that doesn't count! I had eaten something really strange, and it might have affected the way I think! I don't fawn over him like Sasuke's crazy fangirls…. Who are really creepy by the way… I just happen to look at him a lot and admire him and stuff… that's not fawning! It's an entirely different thing. I don't think of him when sappy things come on TV, or I read a love poem… though I do feel like it would be nice if that poem were from him to me and we were that sappy romance…."

Gaara just sat in silence, staring at his friend as he went off on his little tirade. Gaara shook his head. He didn't think Naruto had even noticed that he had slipped from "they" to "him." Gaara scratched his head and tried to fall asleep again until he started hearing "you" instead of "him." Gaara went stiff. His mind went racing off somewhere and he didn't know what to do. Naruto must have noticed because he had stopped ranting and was as stiff as a board beside Gaara. Gaara cracked open his eyes to look at his friend. Naruto was pallid and had clamped a hand over his mouth. For a moment they just stared at each other, neither moving nor saying a word, each afraid of what the other might say.

"Naruto…" Gaara finally said. Naruto, suddenly mobile, scrambled off the bed and to the floor. Gaara sat up and moved towards him before Naruto told him to stop.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I mean, I meant it, but I didn't' mean to do it! It's not like I can control my feelings… I shouldn't have said anything. Please don't hurt me, I couldn't help it! It's just that… there's something about you, the way we're so similar and yet so different. I don't know… I don't want to know. I… I'm sorry…." Naruto trailed off. Gaara looked at Naruto a bit sadly, emotion not one to make a big impression on his face.

"Naruto…" he tried again.

"Wait!" Naruto burst out. He looked at Gaara with tear filled eyes. "I can't hear it… you should know why… I just wouldn't be able to take you saying what you're going to say. I'll just leave you alone. You won't see me again."

Gaara got up and before Naruto could react, sat beside him and wrapped his arms around him.

"Naruto," Gaara said while Naruto was still stunned. "What I was trying to say was I most likely feel the same way… if that's what this fuzzy feeling is… if it means I can't say no to you, then yes, I feel the same way."

Naruto whipped his head around to face Gaara, tears streaming down his face and a huge grin in place of the sad look that had been there only moments before. He laughed happily and pulled Gaara into a hug.


End file.
